The Scope of a Man: King David

course, there were no takers on Israel’s side. There was no one brave enough or valiant enough or stupid enough (depending how you see it) to put his neck on the line for a fight to the death with this boxcar of a Philistine.

Now David was a little guy whose job it was to run rations to his brothers near the front lines. One day as he’s doing this he sees that both armies are just about ready to pummel each other because no one had taken the bait from Goliath.

David inquires and hears that the king (Saul) would give tons of money, his gorgeous daughter and his left foot to the man who would take Goliath on and defeat him. Saul, of course, knew that the defeated king in these situations is usually a bedtime snack for the victorious army.

Let’s just say he’s motivated to find someone to take Goliath on.

David puts this all together and with the combination of knowing the benefits to himself of beating this brute, and some apparent righteous indignation at the arrogance of Goliath: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?", David agrees to fight Goliath despite serious pressure from embarrassed and jealous brothers.

David ends up going face to face with the giant Goliath, who is decked out with the latest designer soldier-wear. David is wearing nothing but a sling and a prayer. Let’s pick up here in the Scriptures:

1 Sam 17: “Then (David) took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.
42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised
him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine
cursed David by his gods. 44 "Come here," he said, "and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field!"

45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s,
and he will give all of you into our hands."

David takes the sling and some stones and with his first try sinks a stone into Goliath’s brain. There’s some more messy stuff that happens with Goliath’s head that we won’t go into.

What does this episode tell you about David? Is he an opportunist who capitalizes on Saul’s vulnerable situation, or is he someone who really wants to assert the power and authority of the Lord?

Does he act out of love for himself or love for God? Does he have motive, or the other? Sometimes we like to think that that’s the way it works. That as we look at David we see him in stories where he’s good, and then we see him in stories where he’s bad.

We look at the good stories and we say, we’ll that’s when he was serving God fully, and we look at the bad stories that are coming up later today and we say that’s when David was completely backslidden.